Seattle at the forefront of giving

Local philanthropists open more than wallets

PHUONG CAT LE AND VANESSA HO, P-I REPORTERS

Published 10:00 pm, Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Photo: Paul Joseph Brown/Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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Ji Quan Pan, 81, teaches a magic class at Sunshine Garden Senior Day Care Center, run by the Chinese Infor- mation and Service Center. The Seattle Foundation, which is in its 60th year supporting philan- thropy, said the CISC contributes to a healthy sense of community. less

Ji Quan Pan, 81, teaches a magic class at Sunshine Garden Senior Day Care Center, run by the Chinese Infor- mation and Service Center. The Seattle Foundation, which is in its 60th year supporting philan- ... more

Photo: Paul Joseph Brown/Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Seattle at the forefront of giving

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(Editor's Note: This story has been altered. Philanthropy Northwest is an association of grantmakers that fund projects in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. The original version of this story inaccurately described the group.)

Alice Cunningham always cared about the environment and social justice, but didn't really consider philanthropy until she hit her 40s and 50s, when she began to see the world differently, and had the paychecks to make a dent.

"You get to a certain age when you're no longer a guest, but a host on the planet. You're not just 'OK, what's in it for me,' " said Cunningham, who co-owns a hot-tub company in Seattle with her husband.

But instead of simply sending a check in the mail, she spent hours poring over grant proposals for Washington Women's Foundation. She used her skills as a former federal administrator for anti-poverty programs to evaluate organizations. She not only donated to EarthCorps, but worked alongside the organization's volunteers to kill invasive ivy near her house.

"You need to be a good consumer and make an informed decision," said Cunningham, who is her in 60s. "That personal connection gives you control; it's what really gives you the good feeling."

Cunningham is part of a new breed of local philanthropists who bring not just cash to the table, but a cornucopia of other gifts: activism, entrepreneurship and business acumen often honed from years of working in Seattle's high-tech industry.

"Philanthropy is changing, and I think that in many respects the Northwest is leading that change," said Carol Lewis, chief executive of Philanthropy Northwest, an association of grantmakers that fund projects in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

She said people are now thinking: "I'm not only going to give my money, but I'm going to give my time and my best thinking to solve the problems in society."

The newest generation of donors are in their mid-40s to mid-50s, and like Gates and Buffett, they're giving "the money away sooner rather than later," said Aaron Jacobs, the senior program manager of Social Venture Partners. The Seattle group applies a venture-capital model to giving, which has been copied around the country.

Part of the shift in giving is explained by baby boomers reaching their 50s, Lewis said.

"They're looking around, and saying, 'What matters? What do I want to do with my life? I've raised my kids. I've built a career.' "

Bob Seidensticker, a 48-year-old former Microsoft employee, said "in the past writing a check to Goodwill or United Way was enough, and it would take you five minutes a year."

Now he finds his philanthropy as a partner with Social Venture Partners more hands-on, inspiring and rewarding.

When Seidensticker joined the group five years ago, he said, he was looking to contribute time and expertise, in addition to giving money. So he helped teachers at Cleveland High School with computers, and then later tutored ninth-graders in English.

"I had the capacity and motivation to ramp up my giving" after leaving Microsoft, he said, adding that "things had been good to me and I really wanted to give back."

Some colleagues also left Microsoft to start non-profits, including one who organized a chapter of the Kidney Foundation and another who started a bottled water company that gives proceeds to charity.

"The feel-good check is one step. This is a little more hands-on," said Seidensticker, one of 260 social venture partners who have pooled their resources to make contributions with a bigger impact.

Other donors support smaller so-called "identity foundations," which help specific causes dear to their heart.

"The paradigm used to be that you thought of a philanthropist as very, very wealthy," said Colleen Willoughby president of the Washington Women's Foundation in Seattle. But smaller foundations allow donors to be more active and engaged in the process, she said.

Recently at the Pride Foundation, which funds programs that help gays and lesbians, being smaller helped the organization be more creative in grant-making, said Audrey Haberman, the group's executive director.

The foundation received a proposal for a church in Kitsap County that wanted money to buy a new refrigerator, but the application didn't stand out. It wasn't until the group's many donors vetted the program, discovering that the church was the area's only welcoming congregation for gays and lesbians, that the foundation granted the money.

"It used to be what we call checkbook philanthropists, but younger people are very accustomed to volunteering, and they want to be more involved with the organization," Haberman said.

Jacobs said he's also seeing more people, like Buffett, not only give money during their lifetimes but while also while they're making it.

People who might otherwise have given through their wills are now giving during their lifetimes, said Paul Frissinger, senior vice president at Campbell & Co. and a board member with the Giving USA Foundation. They're "figuring out how to have an impact and more control over what their money can accomplish philanthropically," he said.

For Eric Ewing, a 44-year-old group manager at Microsoft, it's important that an organization have a "great track record" for producing results. He used to donate whenever a non-profit asked for money.

But now he expects a group to operate like a business and work to get the most impact for its dollars. He donates to his church, environmental causes and the Pride Foundation. "Today there are so many choices (for giving)," he said, " that people probably do bring more business savvy to the process than in the past."